Tuesday, July 10, 2012

This Is Different... And Pretty Damn Cool!

by SandWyrm

More details are coming out about Devil's Charge, the 2nd book in Battlefront's Battle of the Bulge series. I'm going to focus on a couple of the cool German toys that really mix up the way the game is played. These mechanics would be perfect for Orks or Nid cultists. :)Cool Thing #1: Skorzany Commandos

When the Germans attacked the US lines during the early days of the battle, they sent in Otto Skorzany (above) and his elite commandoes to sow confusion behind enemy lines. They wore US uniforms, drove US vehicles, and took over checkpoints, where they would give false directions and information to US troops that were trying to get to the battle.

In-game, we're being told (by Battlefront itself) that you can deploy your Skorzany commandoes in your opponent's deployment zone. Where they'll be able to pin your opponent's troops (by spreading rumors), keep enemy reserves from moving onto the table within 12", and will act as recon troops (no ambushes within 8"). This would really mess with US Tank Destroyer companies. :)

Cool Thing #2: Disguised Vehicles

The Germans also disguised some of their units. They made their Panthers look more like M10 Tank Destroyers, and they disguised their Stugs (poorly) to look like Priests.

In-game, this will mean that (as long as you don't fire yourself) you can move up towards enemy lines and your opponent will have to identify you before they can fire. An idea which, if I was GW, I would totally steal for Orks. :)

Cool Thing #3: Jet Bombers

Need I say more?

It's so nice when a company tells us about the cool stuff they want to sell. :)

Thanks. I've just been watching online videos featuring Lee/Grants in the desert and thought that would be a fun army to work up if I ever get started in this. What point levels do you commonly see in pick-up games?

The casual standard seems to be 1750 for mid-war and 1500 for late war. Though the competitive players locally tend to be playing whatever level is being used in the next national event. 2000 points is considered a 'big' game.

Battlefront seems to always pick odd amounts for the national events, such as 1625 or 1575. My presumption is that it's done to mix things up a bit so that players are forced to come up with new force combos instead of always taking the same mix of stuff every time. I kind of dig it.

Stelek was on a tear for a while about how Flames should be played at 2000 points. The presumption being that you need that many points to cover all of your bases and make an 'All Comers' list, just like in 40K.

But having played in a tournament now, I can personally attest that you can make an all-comers list, even for Germans, at just 1625. At least for Mid-War.

You have to choose your units a bit more carefully, and make sure that certain picks have the duality needed to fill multiple roles. But you don't need to have one of everything in your list. That's 40K thinking. Flames has multiple viable ways to do stuff.

You don't have to have artillery, for instance, to pin platoons or thin them out prior to assault. There's no reason that you can't do the same thing with a line of tanks that roll up and shoot their guns for a while before charging in on turn 4 or 5. Because there's no hard turn limit that you have to beat. You just play until you're done or you run out of time.

So if you're used to playing 40K, you rush in and get killed instead of being patient and thinning down the opponent's threats first. It takes a while to get used to being patient, but it really works. :)